Oman Air wins Best Airline Staff Service Middle East at World Airline Awards

Omani national airline also achieves high placings in many other categories

The standard of service offered to passengers by Oman Air’s staff has received the highest praise the air transport industry has to offer, as it was announced that the national airline of the Sultanate of Oman has won the Best Airline Staff Service Middle East category of the World Airline Awards - SKYTRAX.

In addition, Oman Air was placed second in the Best Onboard Catering Business Class category and third in the Best Airline Seat Business Class category, as well as achieving top ten places in the World’s Best Airline In Business Class, Best Airline in the Middle East, Best Airline Seat Economy Class, World’s Best Airline in Economy Class, Best First Class Airline Catering, Best Economy Class Airline Catering, and Best Airline Business Class Comfort Amenities categories.
Mohammed Al Shikely, General Manager Marketing at Oman Air, accepted the Best Airline Staff Service Middle East award from Skytrax Chief Executive Officer Edward Plaisted at a ceremony held in the historic Wind Tunnel at the former Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough, England. The glittering event, a centrepiece of the globally-renowned Farnborough Air Show, was held on Tuesday 15th July and was attended by around 250 of the industry’s leading figures, including airline Chairmen, Presidents and Chief Executive Officers.
The World Airline Awards have been operating since 1999 and are organised by Skytrax, the independent airline quality experts. This year’s awards were decided following a 10-month-long World Airline Survey, which covered 41 key performance areas of airline front-line product and service. 18.8 million customer surveys were completed, more than 100 different nationalities were represented and over 200 airlines were covered.
Oman Air’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, Salim Al Kindy, expressed his delight at the airline’s success, saying: “Oman Air is extremely pleased and extremely proud to accept this award, which recognises the outstanding service that our staff offer to all our customers.
“As Oman Air approaches its next phase of rapid expansion, which will start later this year with the arrival of the first of the 20 aircraft we have on order, it is immensely satisfying to know that air travellers feel that the service we offer is amongst the best in the world. I would like to thank our entire staff and all those who rated Oman Air so highly, as well as everyone at the World Airline Awards, for this very welcome recognition.”
Mohammed Al Shikely added:
“It was a great honour to accept the award of Best Airline Staff Service Middle East on behalf of Oman Air especially since this award represents the most important element in our industry - the service that our staff give to our customers, on the ground and in the air - making this an award that belongs to every member of the Oman Air family.
“We are particularly proud to receive this award, as it confirms the bond that we have developed between our customers and our staff, both on the ground and in the air. The interaction between staff and customers lies at the heart of the high levels of service we offer and is an important reflection of the legendary culture of hospitality for which Oman, and Oman Air, is famed. We are delighted that, as this year’s World Airline Awards have shown, Oman Air’s hospitality has been recognised and valued so highly by the industry’s most exacting and demanding judges – air travellers themselves.”
Oman has previously achieved recognition at the World Airline Awards, winning World Best Business Class Airline Seat in 2011 and 2012, as well as gaining a range of top ten, top five and top three placings in other categories. In January 2014, American Express Executive Travel magazine named Oman Air as the second best airline in the world, in May 2014 the World Travel Awards named the airline World’s Best Business Class Airline Middle East and World’s Best Economy Class Airline Middle East, and in June 2014 Business Insider listed Oman Air in the top ten of its World’s Best Airlines 2014 list, in recognition of the quality of its Economy Class service.